Best Laid Plans

And some not so best laid - often go awry. So, I didn't end up going to the Oscar Party last night. I hope it was fun! I just chose not to. I am a big person, and changing my mind is within my rights. So I exercised that right. Woohoo! What did I do instead? Not a whole lot. Even bigger woohoo! :)

The house is a mess, which is actually its normal state. Sadly, the kitchen hasn't been cleaned and since I didn't contribute to that messiness, I am not going to clean it up. And until it is clean, I am not doing any cooking in there. That's right. So there! That'll show 'em! No, it probably won't. Oh well.

Tonight might or might not be juggling. I haven't seen Daniel since he got back from his dad's. We shall see. I do know that tonight will be the Saucer. My week of beer isn't over yet. Wednesday is the last day. I can manage it! It is such hard work...

Yay, Pictures!




These are pictures for the book that I happened to take yesterday. And these are it! I was planning on taking lots of pictures at the Oscar Party. Oh well. These will suffice.

February keeps percolating along

And tonight is the Oscars! Ok, don't know that that deserves an exclamation point. I like the Oscars, I don't love the Oscars. Though this evening I was invited to be the +1 to an Oscar party. I do like parties at people's houses. There are a limited number of people, they can't escape easily and you know that everyone is there for the party. Unlike happy hours. Which are usually noisy and confusing to my little brain. But I digress.

Last night was the Raleigh Saucer's 11th Anniversary Celebration. Despite the crowd, it was enjoyable for the couple hours I was there. And other than that, didn't do a whole lot. Worked on the book some. Yippee! I have a bunch more to do that I promised Heather, but haven't done yet. Hpefully I will get some of that done today! At least that is the plan.

Ok, pictures:


Cate traded sons with her husband for the weekend. Jonathan opted to sleep on the couch rather than in his brother's bedroom. Whatever. It is nice to have him around. She has two good kids!


Matt was very proud of his cask tapping hammer. And well he ought to be. Very impressive! The green jackets - eww, polyester - were rewards for having the best year ever. Not hard to do when all the prices have gone up a dollar! :) Still congratulations to the Raleigh Saucer Team!


Outside looking busy.


Inside was fairly busy too. Too busy for me!

Thirteen is the lonliest number...

Or something like that. Or maybe nothing like that at all. Who the heck knows?! In any case, I now have 13 followers who are crazy enough to make themselves known! Woo hoo! Can I reach 100 before I die? Anything is possible!

So, how was your day yesterday? Mine was pretty darn pleasant. Yippee for pleasant days! I didn't really do anything all that extraordinary. Saucer and home. Oh, I did have Smithfield BBQ food for dinner. Hmm. Well, maybe the pictures will tell a different story. Or a story of some kind...


Oh yeah! I forgot. The big daytime activity was setting up the new printer. Wireless, color, and wow. I remember helping to facilitate the purchase of a wax transfer color printer back in 1990 or so - $3500 dollars for crappy color. This was $60 for amazing color! Yippee!! Printed out the cover (front and back) and two pages in the center of Diary of a Plate Addict. I am so excited! Makes it look more and more real.


Haven and her apricot mini-poodle Jacob or Joseph or something. Pretty. The dog, that is...

And then there were 12!

Welcome new follower! And of course, happy to have all of you older followers!

Another day, a few more pictures.

Yesterday was a fun day. I got up and puttered around until it was time to face the big world. I had errands galore to run. Bank, Library, Printer Shopping and then Saucer! All accomplished with aplomb. The printer shopping started at Best Buy, went to Staples and then Target and then back to Best Buy. That is where I bought my new printer. $60, which isn't too expensive. About the cost of a new xBox 360 game. Eeek. I will talk more about the printer tomorrow with the pictures.

After getting to the Saucer, I started to work on the book. Heather gave me a draft Wednesday. My mom had taken notes on the previous draft. So I am working through those first, then will continue on to work on the more recent draft. Heather also asked for some pictures, so that is my goal today when I go to the Saucer. Find the pictures she wants.

Josh joined me for a beer before heading off to a real life function. Then Dara and Adam joined me. Next Richard appeared. And later, Robin came and had a few before he toddled home and Jeanie showed up for a beer or two before we headed off to the movies. We eventually saw the Black Swan, which I liked better than her, but didn't think was amazing. Ended up at the Raleigh Times briefly before trundling ourselves off to our respective abodes. Safely. Yippee!

Pictures:

On some days I take a documentary photo early on, just in case. This is one such. It is a cell phone signal booster - which has changed my life dramatically for the better! I used to have dropped calls and lackluster reception in the bedroom of my house for my ATT phone. Now, it is almost always at least 2 bars and I haven't dropped a call here since I got it! Ebay for a lot less than retail! Woohoo!


A picture for Diary of a Plate Addict. A biggy with a pint glass next to it for comparison sake!


Aww, don't they all look so innocent! Just out getting some fresh air on a nice-ish day! :)


Our fries at Raleigh Times. The idea of their food always seems better than the actual execution there. Oh well. I needed something for my tummy and this sufficed!

And that is all for the day. No tears please! Till tomorrow!

Driving Day

I got up in the morning, mostly intending to stop halfway back instead of driving all the way through. Oops. Partly I didn't stop because I didn't really know why to stop. I thought of calling a couple of friends/acquaintances/relatives in the Baltimore/DC area, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Next plan - find a decent place to hang out for a couple of hours that had wifi. Eat something, have a beer and then either drive home or find place to sleep. Sigh. I didn't succeed at that either.

Traffic wasn't the most horrendous it has ever been around DC. It only added about an hour and a half to my drive (bringing the total to 12.5).

Some pictures from the day, though.


Someday again I will have a decent camera. Not that my little point and click doesn't have its uses. Anyway, the weather conspired to create a winter wonderland so I took some pictures as I started back to NC.


Purdy.


I somehow ended up at the exit where I had spent the night on my way up. That comfort inn is the one I slept in. Weird?

So, I am looking forward to getting out of the house today. My plan is to shower, beard trim, well, not in that order, head out to the bank, library, printer shopping, then to the Saucer. Perhaps a movie later. Life is uncertain. Yippee!

HSH

I saw this post again and finally figured out what it meant. Would that home were sweet for me...

Anyway, I am back in NC. No post yesterday, not because I didn't have pictures, I did and do, but because I spent the whole day driving. And when I got home I ended up not working on the computer until after midnight. So, here are the day before's pictures today.


We ran errands during the day. The first was flowers for Asta. Mom didn't want to visit, but we ended up doing so. Asta went into the hospital for heart bypass surgery and ended up suffering a stroke. She is mostly blind because of it. At least for now. Stroke. Eeek. She looked like herself, only smaller and frailer as most people look in hospital beds. Sigh.


We ate out at Halsey's. A place I used to like. Not so much anymore. The food has become mediocre and the service remains iffy at best. Oh well. I will have to figure out where else to eat in Geneva if I am to spend most of the next year up there.


I had worked in the kitchen between the Asta visit and dinner - making the rest of the eggrolls and a smidge of coleslaw. I decided to freeze most of the 22 eggrolls for mom in packets of two. I hope she eats them! The coleslaw turned out excellently! Yum!

More Pictures!

Can you believe that February is almost March? Eeek!

Nothing really to say at this exact moment, so on with the pictures.


See, doesn't that look like 3-5 inches? Well, since I am a guy, it looks like 8-12 inches... :)


Lunch was leftovers plus some heated up cauliflower and potato soup that I made the night before.


Coffee table before.


Coffee table after. I also have a set of these from the front hall, but not quite so dramatic. Will it last? Doubtful. But I tried and it is a step in the right direction...


Dinner - three different types of eggrolls enjoyed without soy sauce! Eeek! I still have the makings for more egg rolls, which I guess I will do today, amongst other things. Heading towards NC tomorrow.

Winter!

It is still winter here in Geneva. We got 5 inches of snow, or at least that is my guesstimate. It was the fluffy kind, so shoveling this morning was not too tough. Yippee! Not a lot more is expected between now and Wednesday when I begin my trek back to NC. That is a good thing. Mom and I are planning on heading out in a little bit to get some baskets to help her sort and maintain a semblance of organization. I doubt it will work, but it is worth a try.

Stayed up latish last night catching up on Glee. Three episodes. I thought they were all pretty good.

About to put together a leftovers luncheon. Salad and steak from last night's dinner from the Ramada and some of the cauliflower soup I made last night. Today is also making egg roll day.

Last night we were going to go to dinner at Halsey's, a local place, but there was a half hour wait. The Avitt brothers were playing next door and lots of people were milling about. Sadly next weekend The Pink Floyd Experience is going to be playing in Geneva. Oh well. Life is that way sometimes. We have to pick our battles. I kinda feel like I need to attend the 11th anniversary celebration at the Saucer on the 26th. I don't intend to stay all day, like some of my friends. Instead I plan to go in, get my three beers and leave.

Ok, pictures from yesterday:


The shoveling yesterday wasn't too bad either.


Mom sorting laundry to be dried in the dryer from laundry to be dried hanging up at home.


When I first stepped out to head to dinner, it was like the movie The Birds! Thousands of them, bunches of types all making lots of noise. This picture does not really capture it, but it is a little better than nothing.


Mom and me at dinner at the Ramada's expensive and ok restaurant. I asked to get a photo of our server Domino, but she declined due to being pregnant. I guess she was afraid the picture would steal the kid's soul or something. :)

The other Sunday Blog

I am confused. I am trying my best to let the Universe provide. I put ideas and desires out there, take baby steps towards them and apparently miracles are supposed to happen and doors are to open and all that blather. Maybe I am just not looking at things correctly. Maybe I am crazy. Or just confused.

One front for this is the search for a life partner. Search might be too strong a word at this point. Seriously, I would like a life partner, but if I don't find one, I will still be me and will still have a fun, happy life. Happy if I do, happy if I don't. Unattached to the result. Mostly. But I haven't had "relations" in a while. Part of me fears if I do, it will not be effective for anyone involved. At least not the first few times. Out of practice isn't even close. But I digress. Finding a life partner isn't just about sex. It is about having someone to share with. I do like to share. Really, I do. Even though I enjoy my solitude, there is something fun and uplifting about sharing with another person.

So, I have asked many of my friends to keep a lookout for me, to think of me when they meet single women and perhaps even introduce me to ones they think are likely candidates. One person has actually done this. True, no sparks flew after meeting the women she thought of, but it was gracious and generous and thoughtful of her, and them, to make the effort. An acquaintance on the web recently posted a picture. I saw someone who I thought I might know (or might like to meet) and asked her who she was. Her response - "a friend of a friend of a friend. Sorry." I mean, how much effort would have been involved on her part to ask the friend of the friend or someone who she was. I know, above and beyond the call of duty. I am expecting too much. Another acquaintance I specifically asked to keep a lookout for me. She told me she had no single friends, but would keep a lookout. Recently she posted a status saying that she had won a bachelor in a bachelor auction and did any of her single lady friends want him. What? Now she has single lady friends? When I twitted her about it, she said my search couldn't rely solely upon her. Thus far, though, she has done nothing that I can tell.

How do we meet someone to go out with? I might have to go back to the internet, though I don't really want to. I thought asking friends was a good way. I went to "church" one Sunday and wasn't overwhelmed with the prospects. And I am shy around women I find attractive. Weird, I know. Attached to the fear of rejection.

Looking through the pictures that I have looked at so far, I have come across many people that I had crushes on. I do wonder what has happened to them. I will check with my Saucer friends to see if anyone knows.

Ok, the whole relationship thing is one issue on my mind. There are three other prominent ones. Mom, Diary of a Plate Addict and the future in general are the other three.

Mom of course is the most important, at least to me, of these three issues. I don't have any idea how other people feel about their parents. For me, there is a bit of love/hate going on. But the love is dominant. So I want my mom to be as comfortable in her twilight years as possible. And since I do not, sadly, have a family of my own, I can do my best to accomplish this. Again, sadly, I do not have a lot in the way of fiscal resources to help with this. What I do have is time. And willingness.

Hey, if anyone would rather I talked about fashion or gossiped, please let me know.

More on this and the other stuff at another time. I think I have bored everyone enough for now. Live long and prosper. :)

Pictures from February 19, 2011

Fun day, all things considered. I don't mind snow too much when I don't have to live in it. Visiting is fine.

After the kerfuffle about the pictures, I sat down to go through them. I immediately found a box that had the bulk of the pictures from that era. I had two film cameras around that time. One was a camera that took three different size pictures - regular - slightly wider and then panorama pictures. And another, a Nickelodeon camera that took four pictures on each regular size negative. Most of the pictures that I took at the Saucer were using the former. They are not going to be reproduced here - at least not at this point. Maybe some of the ones that don't make it into the book will appear online at some future time.


The box on the left is the one with the different sized pictures in it.

Next was food shopping which entailed getting in the car and driving to the store. In the snow. First, shoveling.


Please note the blowing snow. Yippee! I don't have any boots here, I don't think. I might actually have a pair in the trunk. I will have to look and see. That would be nifty, though I think the snow might be done for the time being. Oops, just checked the weather - 3 to 5 inches expected tonight. Joy! Well, that means I can get a lot of cooking done. My plan is to cook my mom three things - three different types of egg rolls, two soups and a bit of coleslaw. Fun will be had!


We went to see the King's Speech, which was very good, and then to Friendly's for dinner. A nice woman across the way offered to take a picture of the two of us and then made her husband do the honors. Funny.


I then spent a longish while scanning photos. The creme brulee stout made the task less onerous!

There will be another blog today. I can feel it! Till then, Happy Sunday!

Non Picture Blog for Sat Feb 19, 2011

I like to write, obviously. And when I get in a mood, that is pretty much all I want to do. Wouldn't it be nice if I actually made money from it? Well, that is my intent with my book. If only the Saucer people would a) respond and b) opt to buy thousands of copies. That would be nifty. Oh well, day dreaming is pleasant, but doesn't accomplish much.

Today, I got up and found that we were having a teeny little blizzard. Luckily, it is only below freezing and blowing a bit of snow. I don't think there will be much more than four inches in accumulation. I am still planning on making a foray outside later in the day. I don't know if mom will accompany me or not.

My main agenda for this morning was to find my picture boxes. Looking in the closet where I thought I had put them, and finding only boxes and boxes of mom's stuff, I got a little hot under the collar. Mom kept standing there and asking me (three times at least) if I hadn't taken them back to my house in Clayton. Grrr. She did finally suggest looking underneath the bed in that room. Phew! There they were. Well, most of them. The one with the most pictures in it was a little further afield than that, but also turned up.

I have gone through three of the four boxes and found more than 100 pictures from early days at the Saucer. Sadly, I remember few names from people at that time. (Looking at them again, I discovered that a few pictures had names scribbled on the back!) Hopefully, Jeff or someone will. I get to do a lot of scanning. I still have one large box to go through, though I doubt I will find any Saucer pictures in there. One picture that I thought I had, of Keith Schlabs from Saucer HQ, hasn't been located. Yet. It will turnip. (Tee hee)

As I was looking through the pictures, I did come up with a few others that are going to get scanned. Some that some people might think are embarrassing of me. Some of others that I don't know if they have or remember.

The big box of pictures is not going to be looked through tonight. Or soon. There are pictures from the past 33 years in there, wait, I take that back, the past 8 years or so I have been using a digital camera, so there are only 25 years of pictures in there. Eeek! I don't know how many pictures that is. A bunch. Anyway, I will look through them when I get home I think!

All scanning, for now, accomplished. Really easy once I discovered the twain plugin for the "Preview" application! And a little Southern Tier Creme Brulee Imperial Stout. Yum!

Ok, enough for now, more tomorrow!

Snowy In Geneva

It is still winter here in Geneva, NY. Yippee! I get to go sledding! Ok, no, not really. I saw people sledding yesterday. Well, it was in the fifties and there was oodles of snow on the ground. I remember talking with my skiing friends about how much they enjoyed skiing in similar conditions. But no, I will not be doing anything winter sport-like today. I left my boots in Clayton, NC. Where it is in the 60s today. Sigh.

Hey, did you know that if you click on a picture in my blog it takes you to a larger version of the picture? Cool stuff!

I am hoping to come away from Geneva with a few more kitchen things. Maybe my mom's wok, maybe a rice cooker, maybe a juicer! We shall see!

Today will be picture day. Part of the reason I came up here was to look through my old pictures and see if I can find any vintage Saucer pictures. I am pretty sure I have a few. More on that tomorrow.

Not sure if there will be a pithy blog later today, in addition to this, the skim the surface, photo blog. I don't know about anyone who reads this, but I am having fun writing my blog. Yippee!

Okey dokey! Pictures from yesterday - oh, by the way, I am putting pictures up on FB as well in an album about the trip. And I will eventually update the one picture a day album. So much to do, with out any income! Woo hoo!

Pictures: (I think my new rule is that I will pick at most five from a day of prodigious picture taking to post here)(I love making little rules of thumb for myself)


The lovely view from my motel window. They were undergoing massive renovation. The owner/manager of the motel gave me a look at the new rooms. Perdy! No, I didn't take a picture. Many of the pictures I would like to take, I don't, for one reason or another...


The window fixing thing - this kit wasn't as good as the one I have bought before - it did not include the razor that is helpful to remove the sticky thing from the car window. And I managed to lose the instructions and resin right after I put them down. They ought to turn up in ten or fifteen years...


We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. I thought the artichoke appetizer looked yummy so ordered it. I was right!


Mom looks so happy! Yup, that is her happy face! Ok, no it isn't really. She loathes having her picture taken. Oh well.


This is not a good picture. I just thought it was funny to park next to another black Yaris four door sedan...

Safely in Geneva

That is a good thing. And as is normal, no good deed goes unpunished. I was driving a back road up from Binghamton and a large truck drove past on the other side, throwing a rock at my windshield and giving it yet another crack. I think that makes five that it has sustained over the almost five years that I have owned the car. Recently, last summer, I think, I got a windshield repair kit and repaired the most egregious one. Since then, I think I have done two more. The last one being just today. Picture tomorrow. Well, a picture. Not before, during and after. Sigh.

Anyway, I drove up from Clayton and arrived in Ellicott City at about 4 pm. Traffic was slow leaving DC, but otherwise the trip was uneventful.

Why Ellicott City? Because that is where the designer for Diary of a Plate Addict lives. I am weird, but I really do like to meet people in person. So I opted to take this opportunity. We met at Blippy's, where she worked at one point. Nice little neighborhood bar. Her BF still works there. We had a great chat and went over some book things. Yippee!

Then I went and found a hotel in PA to sleep the night away. Yay sleep!

Here are the pictures:

My little pile of stuff to tuck in the trunk.


Snacks for the road. I would have liked some trail mix, but didn't manage to put my hands on any. :(


Oooh, clouds - taken through my car window as I was driving I think. I am a bad person for taking pictures while driving! But, it is better than texting while driving!!


I just loved the juxtaposition of the snow and the top down on the car!


I thought maybe we were in little Korea!

Off to a start...

I over indulged a bit last night. Which made my sleeping less than optimal. And then that made getting up more of a challenge than I would have liked. No matter. I did get up. Packed and gathered all the things I wanted to bring along on this trip. One of the reasons I like to travel by car is that I can bring all the stuff I need without worrying whether or not I can fit it in my suitcase. And whether or not I can carry it 5 miles. I think that is the rule of thumb. If you can carry your bags Five miles, then you are good to go! With a car, I don’t need to think about it. I just toss it in the trunk or the back seat and away we go! Yippee! So I brought everything I could think of. I brought my computer and my suitcase of course. But I also brought my waterpic, my food processor and my scanner.

Part of the reason that I am going on this little road trip is to sort through my analog pictures to see if I can dredge up any Saucer pictures. I know there are a few if I can only find them. So I brought my scanner as well, so that I can make electronic versions for Diary of a Plate Addict.

The trip, so far, has been mostly uneventful. There was some traffic between Washington and Baltimore. Added a good half hour to my trip. Poop. I wish someone would tell me of a good back way around the Washington mishegas. I don’t care if there are even stop lights. Just something that avoids all of the traffic. One of my friends did try to give me a route, but it seemed way more complicated than I was interested in trying.

Since I got my GPS device working again, I relied on it to get me to Bippy’s. Made it safely and soundly - though driving in I ran over a curb which isn’t a good thing. I hope my tire is ok. The mall that Bippy’s is in is chockfull of Korean stores. Weird. Sadly, Bippy’s has no internet. And I can’t find a signal strong enough to lot on. Maybe I will take a quick walk around and see if I can find a stronger signal.

Found one! Yippee!

Anyway, the pictures are from yesterday as is usually the case.


More stuff to break down.


All done!


Amongst other things, I managed to refill and reuse (hence reducing) my water bottles. I think fifteen of them. I love my well water!


I whipped up an omelet. Yum!

More Depression

I think part of the reason might have been my impending trip. I do love to travel. Even if the trip is only to visit my mom in Upstate (well, Central) NY. And this time I get to stop in MD and meet my designer. At a place called Bippy's. But I am getting ahead of myself. Last night I was a smidge daunted by everything I wanted to accomplish or needed to accomplish before hitting the road. This morning, or was it last night, I made a list - a to do list - and that helped a lot. It is interesting how small a large problem can be when broken down a bit.

Part of my consternation stemmed from the powercord on my GPS being dysfunctional. I had taken it apart to see if there was something simple I could fix and there wasn't. I had contemplated purchasing a new one, but hadn't found it to be that overwhelming a need. So I stuck it back together this morning. And I had a minor epiphany - still love those. I just needed something to conduct power from the power source to the tip of the power card thingie. I had just finished taking apart a dresser and had some small screws that I thought might work. Lo and behold, it worked! I have a GPS again. Woohoo!

On my way home, I will take care of another errand - getting some road trip food. Nothing with sugar in it as those put me right to sleep. I like salty stuff for the road. And I will get my stuff together for packing. Since I am only going partway the first night, I don't need to get up and out insanely early. And I am planning on stopping at a hotel overnight near Maryland. So, I am feeling all relaxed and happyish! Huzzah!

Drawers and depression

I am very happy that I am not depressed. I mean clinically happy. I mean, clinically depressed. Is there such a thing as clinically happy? Why aren't there drugs to mitigate that? Hmm?

Anyway, I did have another brief bout of depression last night. Lasted about an hour. I wonder if it was something I ate. I tried to figure out why I felt depressed and not a whole lot came to mind. True, one of our bridge group is leaving again. She left for a couple of years a couple of years ago. She is 80 something, I think, and just came to the realization that she really can't and would rather not live alone. Luckily she has a daughter who is willing to take her in.

Or it could have been because I didn't win at bridge. Again. She did, which is a good thing.

Anyway, yesterday I took apart these drawers:





The lady on the left, Mary Stewart, or Stew as she sometimes liked to be called, is the one who is leaving. I honestly contemplated bailing from the group. I do so enjoy playing bridge, though...

Anyway, I am leaving for Geneva on Thursday to visit my mom. With a stop in MD to meet my designer for the first time. Yippee! Road trip!

I like my blog because it goes to 11!

Yippee! 11 followers! Am I the luckiest, or what?! As Beer Snob pointed out in a comment (yes, the commenting works now...) 15 followers by 2030 no longer seems like an insurmountable task or unreachable goal. We shall, of course see. I should live so long! In 2030, I will be 69? Is that correct? Wow, I can still sort of do math. Go me!

Poor Daniel is feeling poorly. That is not fun. He got to stay home today, though. His exciting pass-time? Washing dishes! He made sugar cookies last night and there is flour everywhere! But the cookies were yummy. No, no pictures. I almost, gasp, didn't take any pictures yesterday. I don't know why I wait to take pictures when there are opportunities that present themselves. Oh well.

Yup, only one picture yesterday. I might just have to put it in the book...


Beauteous Hope, a Flying Saucer Beer Goddess, looking at the second draft of Diary of a Plate Addict.

I do wish that google/blogger would put in some rudimentary picture manipulation features into their app. Too many times, pictures that I rotated in iPhoto don't appear in their rotated version when I try to post them here. Sigh.

Anyway, for only one picture, at least it was a dandy one.

Happy Tuesday - Bridge for me tonight!